Men in Black in the Spotlight
January 27, 2005
Whenever your club lost a close match, you could always blame it on the referee for missing a call or being too harsh with your side. Calls from the stands of "fixer" are frequent but almost always unjustified. However, referee Robert Hoyzer's admitted match-rigging will make the work of his companions on the pitch the remainder of this season a thankless one.
Although the scandal has taken on a new facet with Hoyzer's supposed connections to the Croatian Mafia, the German Football Association has yet to turn up incongruities in any other matches. The players of the league need not worry if their game will be manipulated and can concentrate on their job -- scoring and preventing goals.
Top match on Sunday
The game of the week is most definitely in Berlin where Hertha host league-leading Bayern Munich. The boys from the capital have been a juggernaut following a home loss to Dortmund on Oct. 26. Since then Falko Götz' squad has collected 18 points in eight games and risen all the way to fifth place.
A match against Bayern Munich is something special for every Bundesliga club. Berlin is expected to have its first sell-out in the renovated Olympic Stadium. Coach Götz said in kicker-online that his squad "will play with courage."
Bayern are used to these circumstances. Every team is after the No. 1 club in the Bundesliga. Berlin have not been a big stumbling block for Munich in the past. In 43 total matchups, Bayern have walked off the pitch as winners 22 times -- Berlin on the other hand only eight.
At the other end of the table, two traditional but struggling powerhouses, Borussia Mönchengladbach (15th place) and Borussia Dortmund (14th place) butt heads. Dortmund won their autumn encounter, 3-2 in Gladbach. Dick Advocaat's Gladbach have been awful on the road this season, having yet to take home three points.
His Dutch counterpart, Bert van Marwijk hopes to add on to last week's success against Wolfsburg. A win for either side would give that team some much-needed breathing space away from the relegation zone.
Schalke travel to Kaiserslautern
Wins in Kaiserslautern are far and few between for the "Royal Blues" from Schalke. They have won only a total of four times (35 total games), but on the last two trips to the far west of Germany, Schalke were rewarded with victories. If coach Ralf Rangnick's side win again, they will put pressure on Bayern to match their performance. Otherwise, Schalke will sit atop the standings after the 19th match day.
Kaiserslautern naturally have a word to say here. They have made an impressive move up the standings with five victories in eight matches and sit in 10th place.
Third place side Stuttgart are trying to keep pace with the top two Bayern and Schalke. They host Nuremberg. Their drop from the top of the standings (second place after week one) looks like a stock chart from a dot.com company in 2001. Now Wolfgang Wolf's team sits in 13th place (21 points) and will seriously have to contend with relegation. Wolf's side has been plagued by injuries, the latest being the loss of keeper Raphael Schäfer after a collision during practice. The relatively inexperienced Daniel Klewer is stepping in and the word from the front office and coach Wolf -- we have all the confidence in the world in Klewer.
We'll have to see if the keeper can withstand the Stuttgart assault on Saturday.
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Middle of the field jockeying for position
11th place Bielefeld takes on eighth place Hanover. New boys Bielefeld have been a pleasant surprise this season, rising as high as sixth place. German International defender Patrick Owomoyela has provided backbone in the defense and Delron Buckley has proved to be an effective offensive midfielder with 10 goals under his belt.
Hanover's coach Ewald Lienen has some personnel problems and is starting the 18-year-old Sören Halfar in the left defensive position. Lienen's take: "Why not take some risks?" It has paid off Bundesliga teams this season.
Also struggling to keep up with the top five or six clubs are Hamburg. Thomas Doll's side has reason to be mad this past week.
They were manhandled last week by Munich. They have a bone to pick with their opponent -- Mainz. Hamburg were the first side ever to lose a first league match to Mainz in the first leg. It was also Hamburg's loss in the German Cup that brought the match-fixing scandal to the surface. Thomas Doll's players may be angry but they can not lose their cool on the pitch.
Bottom sides fighting for survival
Leverkusen can improve their lot (sixth place) and to do so have a less than formidable opponent in Bochum. Leverkusen have found a gem in their striker Andrei Voronin. He has scored eight times in the last nine matches. The only problem at the moment is that he is on loan from Cologne. His goalscoring talent has also peaked the interest of teams from Italy and Spain.
Bochum is in the relegation zone. If Peter Neururer's kickers want to stay in the first division, then the run must start now.
In a battle of Burg's, Wolfsburg makes the long journey to Freiburg. Volker Finke's team is floundering in the cellar. The best news comes from the past -- they have yet to lose a home match against Wolfsburg. They have played only five times total, but they do match up well against Erik Gerets' boys. Wolfsburg have hit hard times of late with only three points in five matches. Nevertheless, they stand in fourth place.
On Sunday, defending champions Bremen take on northern neighbor Hansa Rostock. Rostock lies in 17th place but have proved to be a stronger team away from their home stadium, collecting ten of their 12 points on the road.
Bremen's coach Thomas Schaaf has yet to lose to Rostock in Weser Stadium. It should not be different this time but the boys in green have lost some of the glance from last season.